About the Wades

About Peter Wade

Peter Wade has taught God’s Word in Australia, the United States and England. His religious life has been spent in the evangelical branch of the Church, having been active in the Salvation Army, holiness, charismatic, and independent churches. An ordained minister with over 55 years of ministry, he first served pastorates in Western Australia and South Australia.

Since 1967 he has engaged in a teaching ministry, mainly in the United States and Australia, and is the author of numerous books and CDs. Since 1st October 1995 Peter and his wife Vivien have been active in ministry on the Internet and also share the Word of God through literature, seminars and conferences. They live in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia.

About our Australian Ministry

Positive Word Ministries Inc. is a trans-denominational teaching ministry with offices in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded on 20th August 1969, it is incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act of South Australia as a non-profit organisation.

As a teaching ministry, Positive Words has no membership, for it serves believers in Christ regardless of any church affiliation. It does not operate local fellowships and is not associated with or part of any church or denomination. It is operated entirely by volunteers and the outreach of the organization is made possible solely by gifts from interested Christians.

Positive Words is evangelical in doctrine, believing that the rightly divided Word of God is the sole guide for faith and practice. It teaches a positive, practical, and positional expression of Christianity, emphasizing the reality of Christ in you and you in Christ. We believe in the Apostles’ Creed, an early statement of Christian belief widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes.

How to contact us

Some history of the Wades

Peter John Wade was born in the gold-mining city of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. His English parents were active workers in the Salvation Army, and all of his early spiritual and biblical training were with this organization. In 1938 the family returned to England, where he received most of his schooling. He recalls playing church in a shed in the backyard of his friend’s house, where he would be the leader and his friend Eric played the piano or conducted the band. So the seeds of both lives were evident early, as Eric later became Bandmaster of the local Salvation Army band and Peter did indeed go on to become a leader.

Peter at age 4, from a hand-colored family photograph

Peter in high school in England at age 15

Ten years later, in 1948, he returned to Australia with his parents and completed more schooling in Adelaide, South Australia. His working career commenced in accounting departments of various companies in Adelaide. After the death of his mother in 1952, he met his future wife Vivien at the Church of the Nazarene in Croydon Park, South Australia, where they both were members for several years.

In 1957 Peter and Vivien left South Australia for ministerial training with Life Bible College of Perth in Western Australia (now in Sydney, NSW), associated with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. In December of that same year they returned to Adelaide for their wedding. Just three months later, in their final year of Bible College, they were appointed pastors of the Gospel Lighthouse Church, 15 Leake Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, and led their first service there on 30th March 1958. In December 1958 Peter graduated as valedictorian of his class, with Vivien as second in line for the award.

Peter and Vivien sign the register at their wedding in 1957

Pastors Peter and Vivien Wade in 1958

On Easter Sunday, 1959, they commenced ministry at Cottesloe, Western Australia, where they ministered for six and a half years. During this period Peter published a magazine on behalf of the church, set up and operated a number of correspondence courses, and wrote numerous articles for Christian magazines, as well as filling the office of State Secretary for the Assemblies of God and Dean of the lay ministers course. A number of his sermons from this period appeared in the US minister’s magazine The Sermon Builder.

In 1965 Peter Wade went to the United States to attend a three-month Summer School at The Way Biblical Research Center, which was then a non-denominational teaching organization. “His abilities, depth of perception, and conviction were immediately noticeable. Upon his return to Australia and the pastoring of a pioneering work at Taperoo, South Australia, he put into practice all the principles he had been taught and mightily convinced the believers of the fullness of Christ’s work and the accuracy of God’s Word.”

In June 1966 Peter was invited to take his family with him to the United States to specifically develop the outreach ministry of the organization through the printed page. The Wades finally arrived in Ohio in the end of May 1967, Peter, Vivien, Lindsay (7) and Gary (4). Peter “was influential among all with whom he came into contact. Spiritually he was an inspiration to the leadership and gave encouragement, joy, and assistance to them.” He was editor of a monthly Christian magazine, and spoke at many camps, seminars and local fellowships in the US Mid-West.

The Wades at the awarding of the doctorate in 1968

The Rev. Dr. Peter Wade, as many would have known him in Ohio

On September 29, 1968, Peter was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. The citation states that “you have proven your God-given gifts in Australia and in the United States by your dedication and faithfulness to the principles… in declaring the accuracy of God’s Word”. After three years in Ohio, Peter and his family returned to Adelaide, South Australia in May 1970, to establish a non-denominational teaching ministry in Australia. This they did through weekly teaching sessions, seminars and local fellowships. After two name changes, this organization became Positive Word Ministries Inc., of which Peter is still President.

The Way and the Wades parted company in 1976. Meanwhile, seeing a need in South Australia that was not being filled by local churches, Peter and Vivien with three other couples started the Community Christian Church in Ingle Farm in 1979. They served as pastors for nine years, and then retired from the pastoral ministry. The material for many of Peter’s books was first taught during this time, and all messages were recorded on tape to form a large part of our current audio library. During the period from 1977 to the present, Peter, often but not always accompanied by Vivien, made at least 19 visits to the US, to speak at camps and weekend seminars, hosted by the many friends they made during their three-year stay in that country. They also ministered in London, England in 1993.

Groups of happy campers 1979 and 1999

Having purchased his first computer in the early 1980s, Peter, in addition to his ministry, was employed by many large corporations to write documentation for computer users. It was therefore a natural progression to write and produce the printer-ready copies of his books on computer, and then in October 1995 to start a web site on the Internet.

Peter and Vivien celebrated 55 years of ministry on 30th March 2013, and today their main ministry is online, with many thousands of people visiting the web site each month and reading the articles by Peter and others or listening to audio teachings. New books and videos are blessing and inspiring even more people with the greatness of Christ’s completed work and the integrity of God’s positive Word.

Peter & Vivien, taken on Peter’s 80th birthday

The Wades 60th Wedding Anniversary pictorial

Get the latest perceptive insights from Peter Wade's study of the Word of God, plus ministry news. Subscribe above or read past issues.

Peter Wade lives in a quiet beachside area of metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, with Vivien, his wife of 60 years. They have ministered the Word of God together in pastorates, seminars, and family camps for the same period, and online since 1995, that's over 22 years!
Peter has authored numerous books and ebooks, and is a featured speaker at seminars and camps. His writings, videos and audio teachings also appear on his web site, PeterWade.com, as does the Wades history.
Vivien has two paperback collections of poems available, one Christian and the other humorous.
Peter is founder and president of Positive Word Ministries Inc., a trans-denominational ministry with offices in Adelaide, South Australia.
Positive Words Inc. minister to the US and across the globe (except Australia). An Oregon corporation, they and Peter can be reached via this website. See the footer for full details.

FOUNDATIONAL

It will come as a surprise to many Christians that God is not a God of capriciousness but a God of principle. We can rely on God to fulfill His Word always. This truth takes the strain and stress out of Christian living, and makes it an exciting venture.
Paperback, 208 pages, 6" x 9". Order online now.

COMPLETE

The subject matter for these 72 short writings is often inspired by a verse I have read, or a book or review I have read, or a song or hymn from my years in church life. Some anecdotes come from my years as a pastor, and others from observing believers engaged in religion. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be completely satisfied” (Matthew 5:6 Weymouth).
Order from our bookstore now.

MISSION

Just four verses in Luke's gospel contains the most important mission statement in the world. When Jesus read God's five-point mission for his life in the synagogue at Nazareth, it was a momentous event that touched all our lives.
We too must make a decision about this mission statement and what effect it should have upon our Christian lives. Order from our bookstore now.

Free Resources for You

Today's "In Christ" Quote

And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly placesin Christ Jesus – Ephesians 2:6.

Positive Words, Inc.

Presenting a treasury of Biblical insights from Peter Wade and teachers of the past dealing with the integrity of God's Word and our position in Christ and His presence in us. Positive Words, Inc. is a teaching ministry (trans-denominational), incorporated in Oregon, USA, and a 501(c) tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United States.